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Re: Agree or disagree....

I have a slightly off-topic question, but it's one I was wondering about. I'm sure all you Pacers fans know this but I don't.

Why did Bender get such a big contract? How many minutes was he playing when they gave it to him, and how many points was he averaging? Were there signs that he would get anything near that on the open market (it was an extension, right)?

Re: Agree or disagree....

I don't think so. Bender's shot-blocking, athleticism and ability to play multiple positions and multiple areas of the court make him a better fit with this team. Murphy wouldn't offer anything we didn't already have with Harrington (less, in my opinion), and we traded him.

Keeping with the same team, if the trade was for Dunleavy I might do it. He'd be a better fit with the team we have now.

"I'll always be a part of Donnie Walsh."
-Ron Artest, Denver Post, 12.28.05

Re: Agree or disagree....

Peck, to answer your question.....Yes, troy Murhphy is a banger and we can't wait forever on Bender, he just may not ever be that great. Right now, Murphy is better than Bender.

Unstandable, Bender got a contract extension on October 31, 2002 along with Ron Artest. Jeff Foster got an extension two days prior on October 29. Giving Artest a contract extension has turned out to be a brilliant move, but why Foster and Bender got one when Jermaine, Reggie, and Brad were upcoming free agents has always puzzled me.

That is one of my large complaints about not keeping Brad Miller. We gave extensions to 2 players that at that point had proven nothing(Bender has still proven nothing, Foster is as good as Foster will get).

I hate to bring the Brad thing up, but it was asked if Bender got an extenstion and when, so I was elaborating on that.

Re: Agree or disagree....

I have a slightly off-topic question, but it's one I was wondering about. I'm sure all you Pacers fans know this but I don't.

Why did Bender get such a big contract? How many minutes was he playing when they gave it to him, and how many points was he averaging? Were there signs that he would get anything near that on the open market (it was an extension, right)?

Someone else can probably give you the stats, but the basic answer is that Donnie Walsh always takes care of his own, sometimes to a fault. Rarely does a player coming off his rookie contract reach restricted free agent status here -- and most often that's because he's given a sizable extention (in years and/or $) the assumes great things for him with this team. Some might argue that we chronically overspend, perhaps because of being in a small market: Rose, Croshere, Bender, perhaps Foster. In hindsight, the deals given Harrington and Artest seem more than reasonable, showing that Walsh's plan sometimes works. As for JB in particular, he had shown flashes of great ability in games, and was said to be the best player in practice for years, but between injuries, lack of confidence and lack of opportunities, he was rewarded for his POTENTIAL.

"I'll always be a part of Donnie Walsh."
-Ron Artest, Denver Post, 12.28.05

Re: Agree or disagree....

Thanks for the replies, guys.

I wonder if one thing the NBA will consider in the next CBA is extending the length of rookie contracts. Given all the players that enter the league straight from high school, lots of times there are still more questions than answers by the time a team has to decide whether to re-sign them. It happened for JO and Bender, and the same thing will probably happen with Eddy Curry, Tyson Chandler, and Kwame Brown. Their teams will have to pay out a lot of money based mainly on potential. When a player skips college, their first four years in the league basically just make up for that, but then their rookie deal ends and the team that tutored the player has to decide whether to give them lots of money when the player is as unproven and risky as any typical rookie who spent four-years in college.
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Re: Agree or disagree....

I wonder if one thing the NBA will consider in the next CBA is extending the length of rookie contracts. Given all the players that enter the league straight from high school, lots of times there are still more questions than answers by the time a team has to decide whether to re-sign them. It happened for JO and Bender, and the same thing will probably happen with Eddy Curry, Tyson Chandler, and Kwame Brown. Their teams will have to pay out a lot of money based mainly on potential. When a player skips college, their first four years in the league basically just make up for that, but then their rookie deal ends and the team that tutored the player has to decide whether to give them lots of money when the player is as unproven and risky as any typical rookie who spent four-years in college.

I asked David Stern how he felt about lengthening rookie contracts as an alternative to age-limits. He cut me off and told me to stop giving away his game plan for the CBA negotiations.